#but like i mean bj's emotional repression is discussed and hawkeye gets mad about his condescension and hawkeye reacts to his

[marley-manson]

i’m honestly really impressed by the show’s depiction of BJ’s recurring flaw of not supporting Hawkeye because he’s too emotionally repressed, because as far as I can remember it’s never actually specifically discussed or even directly mentioned in dialogue, but it reoccurs often and we can see how Hawkeye and BJ’s relationship changes to reflect that flaw the more times it rears its head. then it straight up becomes the emotional centrepiece of the finale. it’s just such a fantastic bit of showing rather than telling.

like actually I think the closest anyone comes to describing this flaw of BJ’s in words is Hawkeye’s “what if I was dying, would you hold me in your arms or would you let me lie there and bleed?” and that’s not even necessarily referring to BJ’s overall lack of support so much as specifically the current conflict of BJ refusing to say goodbye. But man it really nails everything from BJ’s casual refusal to engage with Hawkeye’s looming court martial in The Grim Reaper to blowing Hawkeye off throughout most of Back Pay to dismissing his project in Depressing News to triggering Hawkeye and then running away in GFA.

it’s easily the most compelling thing about their relationship to me. (well okay I shouldn’t say easily bc the psychological torture gives it a run for its money, but yk)

and I love so much that Hawkeye’s reactions to BJ doing this initially tend to be taking offence (eg ”Will you shut up about the stupid jacket” in The Grim Reaper when he shows more outrage about his jacket being stolen than Hawkeye’s court martial) but evolve into resignation (eg silently walking away when BJ’s response to his tongue depressor monologue is sarcasm). it shows such awareness on the parts of the writers, and it makes so much sense, and it’s a wonderfully subtle thread that’s very emotionally true.

BJ’s emotional repression and lack of support is also followed through on and shown obliquely through Hawkeye simply not turning to him for support. in the latter half of the show he often opens up to Margaret instead, and she comisserates with him by sharing her own feelings. he goes to Father Mulcahy for help in Letters and Depressing News, eg. he doesn’t tell BJ about his father in Sons and Bowlers, and it’s Charles who ends up supporting him.

also it’s really interesting and kind of unique of the writers to give BJ, the best friend and most important person in the MC’s life, this flaw. his relationship with Hawkeye is objectively the most important relationship on the show, BJ is the character who means the most to Hawkeye, they are best friends, but Hawkeye doesn’t turn to him for emotional support, and BJ doesn’t offer it. it’s just so interesting, like has a best friend on tv ever consistently and pointedly refused to engage with the mc’s problems bc he’s emotionally constipated? normally the best friend is default support and if it’s uneven it’s uneven favouring the protag, but in this case the protag is the best friend’s emotional support system and he gets very little in return.

now to be fair there are examples of BJ supporting Hawkeye - eg the red party; looking for him in comrades in arms, arguably stealing the jeep at the end of back pay and otherwise going along with some of his schemes, etc - but those aren’t emotional support. they’re actions that show he cares but which don’t require any actual open honest engagement with Hawkeye’s feelings on his part, or opening up himself. when BJ opens up emotionally to Hawkeye, it’s because he needs Hawkeye’s support, like in Period of Adjustment.

and even early on, before BJ’s character was fully developed, this aspect of him still shined through in more neutral ways. in The More I See You BJ engages with Hawkeye from a place of somewhat judgy detachment and then has a thematically intriguing final scene with Hawkeye where he casually lies during a guessing game. In The Late Commander Pierce he walks away and leaves Hawkeye on the bus. In Hawk’s Nightmare his response to Hawkeye’s fear is to tell him it’s no big deal, which I’m sure is how BJ deals with feelings, but it isn’t compatible with how Hawkeye deals, as we can see when he doesn’t accept that and keeps insisting that the nightmares are fucking him up.

like honestly... Hawkeye’s “would you hold me in your arms” line is overdramatic in the context of BJ refusing to say goodbye, sure, but it does absolutely nail BJ’s overall attitude in their relationship, because he’s bad at emotional engagement and because he actively tries to keep himself at a distance, and because he does have a habit of ditching Hawkeye when he specifically just needs emotional support.

and I absolutely love it as a writing choice.

#incidentally i heavily relate to bj when it comes to this lol so if i seem harsh it's bc i'm very well acquainted with this flaw #mash #text post #marley on mash #i write this and then the next ep i watch they'll probably have a whole conversation about it that i completely forgot about lol #but like i mean bj's emotional repression is discussed and hawkeye gets mad about his condescension and hawkeye reacts to his #refusal to engage with him at times (the aforementioned silent departure in depressing news) but i don't think it's really discussed #mash s11 #bj mash #ship hb

[hhawkeye]

me at all points (with disclaimer that I know I talk about Hawkeye too much): can we meta about Margaret? can we? or Hawkeye's mom? or Carlye or Kyung Soon? or Peg even! just a lady for once and not always about the two white dudes!

oh peg the og blurry wife... what i wouldnt give to know Anything about you that isnt coming from bjs frankly unreliable perspective (I KNOW WHY WE DONT!! I KNOW i knooooow i know and appreciate the limited perspective and fact that we dont really properly see anyone from back home etc etc i know this. i enjoy it. but at the same time i can be mad about it!!!!!!!! same re: hawkeyes mom and his uhhhhh. rose tinted glasses outlook on his past and family and crabapple cove when i imagine in reality it probably. was not all that good considering we know hawkeye represses shit and is obviously romanticising due to being away for so long etc etc)

but RIGHT like. augghhhh i do see a lot of discussion on margaret out of any of the characters which like duh. shes a main character! but even then its... hardly anything compared to bj and hawkeye and actually like, even the bj/hawkeye meta is like. specifically beejhawk meta. it’s hardly ever just like “oh unrelated to the beejhawk thing here’s thoughts on their lives etc” yknow? it’s always gotta link back to beejhawk which is FINE i GET IT i understand. if not then why, etc, but come on!!!!!

like margaret is in literally (almost) every episode and she goes through SO MUCH development and change but everyone is like (mouth zipped closed emoji) and i just. ughhhhh. like im not one to talk bc in general i dont really. make big ass posts about ANY characters really or if i do theyre... incoherent rambling posts that nobody wants to read (THIS IS NOT ME BEING SELF DEPRECATING i am genuinely pissed off at myself for being Like That because i do know how to actually do proper character analysis etc i just.......... dont? bc brain broke and yknow. its fucking mash) but anyway its like. please. please i would like to see more margaret content

and christ the carlye stuff is soooo. like so much of it is just oh carlyes a bitch bc she didnt want to like, sit around and never feel fully like... valued? thats not the right word but augh. in her relationship w hawkeye and like. HELLO?

and kyung soon!!!!!!!!!! obv maddie horaetio had some AMAZING takes on that entire episode which <3 <3 <3 Yes. but in general she is so ignored and forgotten about even in the meta about hawkeyes manpain when hes being left behind!! (the classic “carlye left trapper left bj left”.... ok nobodys gonna mention kyung soon leaving? and how he took that personally even though it was like, his countrys fault actually, and he was not the one suffering there, and, and, and) which i know is partly because she is a one episode character who is never(?) mentioned again etc but its like. ok. yall talk about tommy all the time tho soooooooo........... no hate to tommy love his character love that episode but i mean. come the fuck on. youre telling me random white boy of the week is more interesting or has more like... potential? than kyung soon who literally held so many lives together at the cost of her own mental emotional and likely physical health because she HAD to and then she fell in love with someone who is literally! there! making things worse! even from the very start of the episode when he misjudges her and is like oh im sorry :( and its like ok lol you realise you have a LOT more to be sorry for right. but he does not realise this. because he is fucking stupid and barely realises he is part of the us military no matter how much he decries it like! god!

anyway whatever. again, long rambly post that is very disjointed and bad this is why my lecturers hated reading my first drafts of anything BUT YOU GET WHAT I MEAN AND I AGREE VERY MUCH. mx mash fandom unblur those wives

#cauldronofmorning